Piñon Mesa Competitive Trail Ride

It started on a windy, dusty Friday. Well the ride did, the day itself started quite pretty. On the western horizon, however, was an ominous pink cloud. What was it? Arizona. You see, we could see the wind long before it actually hit our area and it looked as if it had picked up half of Arizona on it's way through.

Check-in for the ride competitors started about 2pm and by then the wind was here and strong. Fortunately it wasn't cold... yet. Everyone that had things to do outside shelter was doing it while also scooping the dirt out of their ears every 10 minutes or so. No one wanted to hang around and chat because that involved opening one's mouth, then you ended up eating dirt too! At least it wasn't cold... yet. Over the course of the afternoon, 35 riders checked in to compete. They got their horses cleaned up for the vet check as best they could in 35mph sustained winds with gusts up past 45mph. At about 5:30 p.m. they held the trail briefing, usually they aren't that early on Fridays but everyone had the same goal... get out of the wind. We also knew that Saturday would not be dusty... it was going to rain/snow soon. At least it wasn't cold... yet. The sideways rain hit at about 10:30 p.m.

Saturday morning was a lot colder, about 32 degrees at sunrise, not as cold as I had anticipated, and there was just a trace of snow on the ground and a light wind. The 30 riders that hit the trail Saturday morning were challenged right away with a log crossing obstacle. Cavaletti in fact. All they had to do was trot through (Open riders had to add a halt well on the other side). There was many different ideas of "trotting through" by the various equines. One of the mules stopped and refused but eventually trotted through. The former eventing horse, who was quite familiar with cavaletti, leapt in then leapt out. Many trotted the first two and sidestepped out by the middle. Some horses did it just fine regardless of the fact that the cavaletti logs were striped with snow. By the time I took pictures of all the riders in the wind, my hands were quite cold.

I decided to head to the northern reaches of the trail to catch the riders again. The roads were damp but nothing that made me think I shouldn't drive down the big hill. Well, halfway down the big hill, I realized my error... when I was sliding down it on the slick, wet top layer of clay! I got the vehicle under control and slowed to a creep for the rest of the hill, trying my mightiest to stay out of the REALLY BIG RUT on the left. It was deep enough that I wouldn't have left the rut without a lot of help once I got in it. I succeeded and was happy to be on flat ground again. I was fortunate enough to slide sideways again while crossing over a deep arroyo. THAT one scared me! There was a pipe for the water under the road and it was a long way down to the bottom... at least a car length. The road was not very wide over the top of it and I just was not sure my vehicle's hind end was clearing the edge. I made it! Whew!
I was quite concerned that I was going to have to go UP that big hill again when I was done. However, with it being windy, it dried out enough to be easily navigable upon my return after taking pictures of everyone again. No more slip and slide on clay and back up on the mesa top where the soil was sandy and I was once again warm and toasty from driving. (Did I mention it was now quite cold outside?)

I went to the lunch area and grabbed a sandwich and headed back out to photograph the riders going down a significant hill. It has been my personal challenge to make a horse going down a hill look good. I succeeded! However the wind picked up off and on and there was sporadic snow flurries too. I was getting quite cold out on that point overlooking the down hill. After everyone made it safely down the hill, it was of the sandy soil sort, I went to catch them all one more time near the end of the 20 mile trail (30 for Opens). I got to my place just before the riders came to it, perfect timing!

All the Novice and CP riders made it through and I had to wait a little for the Opens to get there. About 20 minutes later they did. One of the riders wanted to have more than an average trail photo so she decided to do a "trick" for the photographer. I'm guessing that after dusting off and having to catch a car ride to fetch the Mule that had no patience for antics at the end of the day, she won't be trying that again. Fortunately she was free of any serious injury despite being dumped on her shoulder after a few rather large bucks. She kept a sense of humor about the whole thing overall and told me later she just wanted me to get a "different" picture. I told her that I got a few alright but probably not the one she had imagined. By now the wind was quite strong again. I was definitely COLD through and through after having been standing in it all day.

At the Saturday vet check, the wind and the snow flurries continued off and on. Eventually the wind died down and the clouds cleared setting up the night to get REALLY cold. Everyone woke up to a 24 degree, calm, clear, sunny day. I spent my day preparing images while the riders rode their 20 miles. By the time I got to camp to sell the photos it had warmed up to almost jacketless pleasant. Except for a breeze now and again which caused me and many others to keep their jackets close. At the awards that afternoon, our vet judge from Kansas, stated that he had never experienced so much different weather in such a short time. Wind, severe wind with no visibility due to sideways dirt, rain, sideways rain, snow, sideways snow, bitter cold and beautiful warm sunshine. He said it would be memorable ride for sure.

Best Horse Toy Ever!

I found the best horse toy ever! Well, actually they sort of found me. After receiving an email from a small company that was looking for images to use in a new iPhone App, I rounded up a couple of peers, Amy E. Riley and Lynne Glazer and we three are now the featured photographers with the majority of the images for the App. The company, called Nose-It, is sponsoring the equine photo-a-day App, called Horse Lover. It's a free app to download from the iTunes store and it will send a horse related picture every day to your iPhone or iTouch.

Keith, the Nose-It rep that I was in touch with knew we had our own horses so sent us all some Nose-It toys. I took them out on a sunny day to see if they were a hit with the crew or not. I broke up some hay cubes and put them in the hole in the Nose-It and gave it to the no-brainer. The horse that plays with EVERYTHING whether it be a toy made for horses, the flymask from his neighbor's face or the tank heater... or, even the water tank itself! (He drags that thing around constantly, even totally full but NEVER dumps it over. I don't know how!) Of course he loved the Nose-It. I don't think he even stopped to pick up any treats that fell out. Soon, however, he pushed it too far and it was in his neighbor, Bisti's yard. Big hit there too! Bisti was all about treats and figured out how to get them out but not before spending some time digging, pawing and biting it.
After watching those two, I decided to try it on some of the more skeptical horses. Boomer spent a good long time trying to get his nose IN the hole instead of getting treat OUT of the hole by rolling it. He was just sure it would fit. After a bit he finally discovered gravity and started to roll it around as well. He rolled it until all the treats had come out. I refilled it and took it to Who, the most skeptical of them all, she doesn't play with anything. She approached, gave it a good sniff and like Boomer tried to stick her nose in the hole but very quickly figured out that rolling it was far more rewarding. And there's the clincher, if Mikey, er, Whobie-Doo likes it it must be good.
These things do seem pretty indestructible as well and the treats don't just fall out. There is some lip to the inside of the hole so they do actually have to work at it to get the treat out. Now, several months later, they are all still playing with it. Dopey for the fun of it and he still passes it to both his neighbors. Bisti for the food of it and he will still rough it up, paw at it, try to bite it and I've even seen him standing on it once. Boomer and Who for both the snacks and the puzzle of it. They are still pretty certain that their noses WILL fit. I have since given most of the horses at the place a turn with the Nose-It and they all dig it. A perfect toy for the inquisitive, the cookie monsters, the bored and even those that need encouragement to slowly move around for some light exercise therapy. Oh, and the perfect bonus: Because of it's shape, it doesn't ever roll away under the fence and into the trees so there is never a long walk to retrieve it.

Spring in New Mexico

Wind. Wind. Wind. Did I already mention the wind by any chance? Yesterday it was very windy here all day and into the night. The one high spot about the wind is the automatic-cat-entertainment-device. I'm not the best yard worker (but far from the worst in the neighborhood) and I left a pile of dead leaves all winter in a sheltered, gravel-covered area next to the porch steps. I do this every year. Why? I could just rake them up and have an overall tidier appearance. First of all, I don't fake tidy very well in general and secondly, it's all about feline entertainment properties in the right conditions! When the wind picks up enough, the leaves blow over the porch randomly and it entertains the kitties for HOURS. Being indoor sort of cats, they really appreciate it when I make things work out for a good diversion from the regular, ho hum, everyday cat entertainment, such as paper balls, furry mice with shakies and "king of the scratching post" games. As expected, the combination of leaves and wind did not disappoint any of us and the pile of leaves did shrink a little.

Watch and laugh!

The Horse: One Step at a Time: Hoof Trimming and Leg Stress

Not my usual kind of post, however it is on a subject that is near and dear to me having held the hooves of several horses through theraputic shoeing. I think this is an excellent, easy to to understand article. No bias toward to shoe or not to shoe, just good solid base info. Below is a teaser, then you can click on the link to read quite a bit more.

From TheHorse.com One Step at a Time: Hoof Trimming and Leg Stress

Have you ever walked in shoes that you've had forever that are just a little worn to one side of the heel or the other? Did you notice that after awhile your knees would start to hurt, or maybe your ankles? Now think about wearing those shoes 24 hours a day, every day, for an entire month without ever taking them off. Image how miserable you'd feel.

Now, apply that to the horse whose owner says he can go a few more weeks before he needs a trim or even worse, to a horse whose owner thinks the animal can go all winter without any hoof care. Now, take a step back and imagine wearing those ill- fitting shoes for the entire winter. You should cringe at the thought.

The reality is that horses' feet are often neglected, especially during the winter months. Shoes are usually pulled, farrier visits become less frequent, and the horses are left to suffer.

As a rule of thumb, we know that our horses should be trimmed (and shod if necessary) at least every six to eight weeks. But where did those numbers come from? Sure, after eight weeks, hooves will start to appear long, they might crack or chip and look unsightly, or on a horse with poor conformation, the feet might show uneven wear. All of these observations might seem benign on the surface, but they're important, according to Meike van Heel, MSc, BSc, PhD, a researcher at Utrecht University's Equine Performance Laboratory in the Netherlands. Van Heel recently studied how a hoof changes between trims, and she found that neglecting your horse's feet could be setting him up for serious injury.

The Horse: One Step at a Time: Hoof Trimming and Leg Stress

Thanks to TheHorse for having a ShareThis!

The New Cat in the House

Petfinder.com is a dangerous place. If you spend even a short amount of time there you are sure to find something you always wanted. I've found two cats there, first was 2 years ago: Cecil. I had been surfing there looking for a special face only a few weeks after my Ollie had to be euthanized due to a rare heart condition called Dialated Cardiomyopathy. Cecil turned out to be an awesome cat as well as a Bengal. I didn't know that when I was looking, I was after a certain face and some stripes... gotta have stripes!

So here I am 2 years later and I ended up on Petfinder again. Cecil is a busy cat and he wants so badly to be super friends with Squeak. While she will play with him, she refuses to let him sleep with her or groom her. She'd also really like for him to leave her alone more often too. He's just way too busy for her taste even though they are the same age. I had sort of been keeping my eyes peeled for another homeless Bengal so I could be sure that I would get a cat with Cecil's desired energy level. I didn't find any near enough to me to rehome and while I just LOVE the Bengals, I really couldn't justify buying a cat. There are so many "cat-off-the-street" cats that need homes far more than purebreds who find homes fairly easily, so I started browsing cats at the local shelter on Petfinder instead.

It's true I was contemplating a new cat but I wasn't looking real diligently. I went to Petfinder only 3 times over the course of 6 weeks and the third time I found "the face" and it had stripes too! Bonus that it was tiny as well and was at the local shelter. The next morning we had about six inches of snow but that didn't stop me from being the first one at the shelter to get my cat! I made it there about 10 minutes before it opened and sat in the car hoping that he would still be there. They opened, he was there! I stuck my finger in the cage and he bit me! Not maliciously, but tasting. I called him a brat and proceeded to fill out the paperwork to make him mine.

So, home we went, a new nameless kitten and I, me-owling all the way. I made an appointment at the vet to have him tested for Feline Leukemia, he passed with flying colors and also got his Leukemia vaccination. Now he can be turned loose with the clan. Cecil was immediately impressed and curious, Squeak; not so much. She told me under no circumstances did she need a new friend. Cecil was all over the little kitty. After a few days Squeak did lighten up and Ivan revealed to me his name. Ivan also revealed to me his desire to have some "pink stuff", antibiotics for that sneeze that every kitty cannot escape the shelter with. He got what he needed and is very happy now. He shared his sneeze with Squeak as well, but she got over it on her own.

Ivan has no fear. He is bold and will has yet to learn to be afraid of the front door opening. I have caught him trying to follow me or the dog out a few times. I'll have to work on that some more. So far, trying to push him aside with my foot is not impressing him. The first day he claimed "his" cat boat by the window and that night "his" spot on the bed. (I tried to have him sleep in his own room for his safety that first night but he seems to have figured out he can fit under the door... even with a rug jammed under it!) He has also tried to climb up my leg but to his (only slight) dismay, that action has been consistently received with loud yowls and an extreme cat "loosening" dance combined with a reflexive backhand swipe. I've started to carry around a water sprayer. Gotta nip that in the bud NOW! Dang kittens!

Ivan and Cecil LOVE each other. I had no idea that Cecil's greatest desire on earth was to become a Mother Hen. He plays with Ivan, gently tortures Ivan, follows Ivan, shares toys with Ivan, grooms Ivan and sometimes naps with Ivan. He even seemed to take on the role of showing Ivan the ropes (aka the cat fountain). When he tires of Ivan, he just pins him down. Ivan often leaps onto Cecil's head and back from nowhere and Cecil tolerates him. Often I will see Squeak watching from a safe distance. Occasionally she moves for a closer view. Overall she has been much more tolerant of Ivan than she was of Cecil when he invaded her house. Cecil hasn't completely stopped interacting with Squeak, but she is definitely getting in a lot more of that valuable nap time now. To see some video clips of Ivan and Cecil roughing each other up, click here. I've gotten a few comments from friends and family members about the number of cats I now have. So be it... I guess I'm now well on my way to becoming the crazy cat lady. (I say you're OK 'til you pass four!)

Ozzie's Story

The night of Rocky's death, Robin learned of another foal that had lost his dam. The foal was a Paint who had lost it's mother to severe founder a week before. He had been hanging on with some bottle feeding and force feeding via a nose tube but it wasn't looking good. The foal's owner was at wits end because the baby had rejected nursing from a bottle after a day or two, was not interested in drinking anything from a bucket and feeding via a nose tube was too expensive since it has to be done by a veterinarian and it really couldn't be done often enough to sustain him. Ozzie was going to be his last chance at a normal life.

The next day we put Ozzie in the trailer and hauled her an hour away to a small place to meet the orphaned foal and see if she could possibly be of any service to the waning baby. The owners had a second mare and foal but that mare would have nothing to do with the orphaned foal. Upon our arrival, the owner took the foal from the pasture where he was trying to gum the grass to smaller quarters for our acceptance test. The foal just walked quietly beside the man with it's head down. There was no spring to his step at all. It was so sad to see him just living but with no purpose or joy of life.

At first sniff, Ozzie was keenly interested in the little fellow and we all cheered inside, but then she pinned her ears back hard and tried to take a bite. Our spirits fell. Robin decided to force the issue with her... because we had an advantage. Ozzie has a blind side. Long ago she had lost an eye and it was so painfully obvious that this foal was not going to get far if we couldn't make this work somehow for him. Poor Ozzie had been not dripping, but squirting milk all over herself since the loss of her foal. She needed him as much as he needed her.

We pinned Ozzie up against a fence and brought the foal to her blind side and kept a tight hold of the mare's head. We got the foal up beside her and pointed his nose to the right place. Once he got a whiff, he latched on immediately and started suckling! He was scared of Ozzie and every time she moved or kicked he flinched and pulled away but he would immediately go right back to it the first chance he got. He was starving. He suckled for about 20 minutes.

After a bit Robin let Ozzie start to smell him up close, she said he stinks! She also lifted up her leg some more in aggression but didn't try too hard to kick him. We let her leave him for about 15 minutes and then tried to socialize them again with still mixed results. Most everything i have read says that a potential nurse mare will either accept the foal fairly fast or it will be a total lost cause. Because of her blind side, it was quite easy to let him norse while someone held her. Robin decided to leave Ozzie there with the owners, who if nothing else, could at least go out and hold the mare for the foal every couple of hours. This was an acceptable compromise to this baby potentially dying of starvation or leading a poor quality life due to poor nutrition as a foal.

I was never able to make it back up to the place to see how they got along, but I had reports that after a couple of weeks Ozzie did fully accept the foal and spent the rest of the spring and summer raising him on a full green pasture. It was the best possible ending to the sad stories of Ozzie and Rocky.

Rocky's Story

I made almost daily trips up to Robin's place to photograph Ozzie. My goal was to photograph before, during and after of her giving birth to her foal. The trip took about 2o minutes each way and I visited 2-3 times before she popped out Rocky. Ozzie is an Irish Thoroughbred and was in foal to a Irish Draught Stallion. Ozzie was a dream to photograph. She was good looking and gave textbook examples for all the stages a mare goes through shortly before foaling. Only thing is Ozzie put on such a good show that they all lasted for days... such a tease! I don't think I could have asked for a better example of "waxing" or softening of the muscles.

Ozzie was a sneaky mare. She gave birth to Rocky in the wee hours of the morning in between Robin's crawling out of bed to check on her, which happened hourly. Robin did get to see Rocky stand up and suckle for the first time and was satisfied that he got his colostrum, the very important first milk. I got a call in the morning announcing the birth of Rocky. I was bummed I missed his birth but gladly went up in the afternoon for baby pics. I got some super cute images of Rocky but noticed that during my hour of hanging with him that he was developing diarrhea and it was tinted with blood. I notified Robin and suggested she call a veterinarian promptly. I had seen several other foals at another clinic I frequent that had diarrhea with varying results, many not good.

The vet came out promptly and gave Rocky some medication for a bacterial infection and diarrhea relief. He came out several times over the next two days to attend to Rocky but with no improvement. Finally Robin sent a plea out to another vet who worked out of a clinic and he had her bring the mare and foal into the clinic.

Rocky was a fighter. The second vet decided that there was a possibility that the foal was allergic to Ozzie's milk so they switched to Foal-Lac. Rocky drank and drank both the Foal-Lac and water from a bucket, a huge boon. Many foals need to be bottle fed or won't eat/drink anything at all. With him willing to drink from a bucket it made keeping his hydration and nutrients all that much easier. Also a good sign that he was not giving up the fight. In addition, Rocky was also on I.V. fluids. The vet also allowed Robin to spend nights in the stall with Rocky so she could keep giving him his Foal-Lac and water around the clock. Rocky was also acting colicky on occasion so the vet would leave her with a dose of pain killer to administer into the I.V. drip if he got painful in the middle of the night.

Three more days go by with this arrangement. Robin spent every night with that foal and then would go home to sleep while the vet clinic had regular personnel tending to Rocky. I stopped by twice to keep Robin company at night and chat and see what progress had been made, if any. Turns out, not much. The third night Robin stayed at the clinic I stopped by again for a while and Rocky was obviously not doing well at all. I took a few images of him and the stall arrangement. He was alternating between no activity and short moments of thrashing, which we assumed was due to colic spasms. She told me the vet would be returning soon, and she asked me what she should do. I told her it wasn't looking good for Rocky and that maybe it was time for her to let him go but that I could not make the final decision for her.

While we sat there, waiting for the vet's return, she administered one of the pain killer into the I.V. because the spasms were getting more frequent. The vet came back to the clinic within the hour and I stayed with Rocky as Robin went out to talk to him about the probability of this foal recovering. Both the vet and Robin came to the conclusion, quite quickly, that it was time to let him go. They had done their best. Robin wanted to have a necropsy done on Rocky so she would know what his killer was for sure. Everyone, by this time, was sure Rocky had Clostridium. Clostridia-associated Enterocolitis.

I asked Robin and the vet if I could photograph the euthanizing and necropsy of Rocky. Both were more than willing to allow me. The image I took of the vet euthanizing Rocky is one of the most haunting images I've ever taken. It is a such a sad moment to let a cherished animal go but at the same time it is one of the greatest acts of kindness one could ever grant to another being. To end suffering and pain in an irreversible situation. There is absolutely no doubt after the necropsy that it was the highest form of compassion that Robin could have ever done for that colt.


Rocky had been suffering from the ulceration of the hind gut due to the bacterial infection. There was no level of treatment that would have saved him at that point. The intestinal ulcers had perforated and trying to fight it any longer would have been cruel. He was going to die a painful and toxic death regardless of treatment or painkillers. The vet sent many samples to to a lab for conformation for the diagnosis. You can see the images of Rocky's necropsy here. Graphic Warning: it IS a necropsy.